Speaking with the AV Club, Judd Apatow crew member Jay Baruchel opened up about his dream to become Canada’s next David Cronenberg and spilled a few more details on his racially charged, slasher horror flick “Pig,” which he hopes to direct soon.
As we previously reported, Baruchel described “Pig” as “a 21st century re-imagining of the slasher film with a lot of socio-racial commentary, that’s all I’ll say.” We’ll it looks like he’s prepared to say more as he reveals a few more tidbits about the film. He says the film is “a re-imagining of a slasher film about a crazy white cop who chases four black kids throughout the ghetto on July 4. It’ll be subversive and controversial and polarizing, but that’s what’s best in horror, the movies that do that to people.” While he doesn’t outright call the film “Pig,” we think the obvious lines can be drawn.
If you’re wondering who on Earth would finance such a racially charged horror film, Baruchel hopes to get the film made through Canada’s generous, hands-off artist grant system, “I love the Canadian system, because our government always puts aside money to make movies there, and no matter what, I’ll be making it in Canada. Wherever the financing comes from… It could come from Germany; that would be fine with me.” He goes on to describe the advantages he’s seen from friends who’ve worked in the government system, “Everyone I know who’s worked in that system, who’s gotten to make movies, have told me it’s not like a studio. You don’t have to humor notes. The government basically, if they like your script and they like the producer and the director, they say, ‘Here’s the money, go make the movie.’ They don’t even ask for final cut. They’re just like, ‘When it’s done, give it back to us.’ They wouldn’t have funded it if they didn’t think it was worthwhile. Look, David Cronenberg has been making movies there for 30 friggin’ years, and his movies get pretty crazy.”
And speaking of Cronenberg, Baruchel enthusiastically describes the director as his hero, and says acting is only an “endgame” to get him into his own director’s seat, “Listen: acting has afforded my mother, my sister, and me a great, great, great life, and I get to do a job that a lot of people would kill for. It’s one of the best jobs in the world. So I am absolutely grateful for all that stuff, but it was never my raison d’être….I don’t mean to do it a disservice by saying this, but it was always a means to an end. It was a way to afford me the opportunity to get to kill people on camera.”Baruchel’s dream of directing sounds like more than just a passing fancy, and “Pig” sounds pretty ambitiously daring, so we hope he manages to pull together the financing to get it in front of cameras. The actor has a busy 2010 ahead of him with “She’s Out Of My League” and “How To Train Your Dragon” opening this month, and the “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” hitting screens this summer. He’s also got the comedy “The Trotsky” opening May 14th in Canada, which features a score by Francophone indie rockers Malajube. You can see the trailer below.
